In 1996, one of my all-time favorite teachers, Scott Smith took a group of my schoolmates and I on a "field study" trip to Monterrey. We camped in the redwood forest, explored the coast, and of course visited Monterrey Bay Aquarium. I had a great time, and I wanted something to bring home. At the forest ranger station, they were selling little redwood seedlings. I bought one, and brought it home. At the time, I was living in Laguna Niguel, and kept the tree in a small pot in the back-yard. When I moved away, my mom took good care of the tree, moving it to larger and larger pots. When in 2002, Vanessa and I bought our home, the tree came to live with us, and take up permanent residence in the Earth. We planted him in our front yard, and named him Red. At the time, he was about 5 feet tall, and just a few inches in diameter at the base. This is a picture of Red at about that time:

Red has had a tough life since then. The Portola Hills weather is generally not to his liking, and the hot summers are especially hard. He's also had a difficult time training me to be a good caretaker. More than one year we thought I had finally killed him. However, in the last two or three years I've been a better keeper, and he's gone from somewhat sickly looking to putting on several feet of growth, and tons of happy, healthy foliage. Red is now about 20 feet tall, and putting on new height and girth all the time. Here he is today:

With a lot of love and attention, I believe Red may grow to be the centerpiece of Portola Hills' greenery, and will make for excellent Christmas decorations!

Comments:Kubby (2010-09-22): This is awesome. I can't wait to watch is grow... Very cool

mom (2010-09-22): Red is very lucky to have found you. I'll bet that not many of those other seedlings are faring as well! He sure is beautiful!!

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